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Following is a speech by the Secretary for Education and Manpower, Mrs Fanny Law, at the Diocesan Girls' School Speech Day today (December 15):
Mrs Lau, distinguished guests, teachers, parents and girls of DGS,
I am deeply honoured to be invited to address you all on this auspicious occasion, which draws to a close your 140th anniversary celebrations. DGS has produced successive generations of well-rounded leaders who have contributed to Hong Kong's success in many ways. Excellent academic achievements, outstanding performances in music, speech and drama, and impressive records in sports and social services speak for the quality of education which DGS provides. I thank the School Council, the Principal and all the teaching staff for your vision and unreserved commitment to education, and wish DGS continued success in the new millennium.
I was very pleased just now to unveil the Millennium Plaque in appreciation of your patrons' generous donations towards the Anniversary Celebration Concert earlier this year. To DGS, the plaque is an expression of gratitude for the generosity of those private individuals and organisations that have supported and continue to support this fine school. To the community, the plague has additional significance.
In making their contributions to DGS, your patrons have accepted a shared responsibility for education in Hong Kong. Investing in education is the most worthwhile investment in the future of Hong Kong. The Special Administrative Region Government has pledged to improve the quality and scope of education, but we cannot do it alone. Everyone in the community is a stakeholder in education. Everyone will have to pitch in, in one form or another, in order to realise the Education Commission's blueprint of education for the 21st century and the underlying objectives. The fine example, which your patrons have set, is therefore heart-warming and encouraging.
People are our most important asset. Hong Kong would not be where it is today - the world's 10th largest trading entity and a leading international financial centre - if it were not for our highly motivated and entrepreneurial people. We must have people of high calibre and with a global perspective if Hong Kong is to maintain its competitiveness in the global economy of the 21st century.
The Millennium Plaque also signifies that the future is built on the past. DGS can look back with pride on 140 years of history which provides a solid foundation for the School's future in the challenging world of the 21st century.
Similarly for today's graduates, your future will be firmly based on your past experience here at DGS. I shall avoid the trite claim that those were the best years of your life, but they were undoubtedly some of the most memorable. As you leave your school, you face a world filled with opportunities, as well as threats; a world of uncertainties in which change is the rule; and a world which you will help to shape. As the great wheel of change turns faster, the half-life of knowledge shortens. To stay on top of change, we must seek constant renewal through lifelong learning.
The community will be looking to you, graduates from DGS, for leadership, in your various chosen careers, to help build a better tomorrow as your predecessors have.
In speaking of leadership, one can think of Adolf Hitler, Richard Nixon, and Ferdinand Marcos on the one hand, and Winston Churchill, John Kennedy and Mohandas Gandhi on the other hand. They were all leaders who made their way into history, but they evoke different sensation when their names are mentioned.
Particularly in public life, but also in private businesses, honesty and integrity are essential aspects of good character in a leader. Thomas Jefferson once said: "Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom." This was echoed by General Norman Schwarzkopf, the U.S. Army officer who commanded Operation Desert Storm during the Gulf War in 1991, who said: "Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy."
Leaders have a moral responsibility to their followers. They must be able to conceive and articulate a vision that can lift people out of their preoccupations, and unite them in the pursuit of bigger goals worthy of their best efforts. The ability to lift and inspire requires a high degree of communications skills and personal commitment.
Think of the great leaders of history - Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Mohammed and Mao Tse-tung - they were also great communicators who had the ability to put into inspirational language the thoughts people already had, what they already knew but could not articulate.
To communicate effectively requires not only a high degree of language proficiency, but also passion and empathy. In the Hong Kong context, people would expect our leaders to be "biliterate and trilingual", that is, be able to read and write English and Chinese, and speak English, Putonghua and Cantonese. I was most impressed and pleased to hear Mrs Lau's recital of DGS girls' performance in English and Chinese this last year. You are therefore well prepared to be our future leaders.
Effective communication also requires an openness of attitude to rally, and the skills to reconcile, different points of view in a pluralistic society. Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore wrote in his book From Third World to First that the biggest asset of his government was the trust and confidence of the people. This is true for every government and every organisation.
Leadership is also an act of faith, both on the part of the leader and of those who believe in his or her vision. Faith begins with trust in people, trust that given the responsibility, the authority and the opportunity, people will choose the right course of action. A good leader is not someone to lean on, but someone who makes leaning unnecessary. Peter Block, a management consultant and noted author, says the leader's job is to make people feel so good about themselves that they will attempt greatness beyond the status quo, opt for autonomy rather than dependency, and demonstrate courage rather than caution.
Leadership cannot be taught; it can only be learned. It also, incidentally, requires hard work. The sad truth is people often do not recognise the opportunities to show leadership that present themselves because they generally look like work. So, do not turn away from the problems life places in your path. Do not shirk responsibility. And never, never say "this cannot be done". Creativity, as defined by a renowned artist in Hong Kong, is a mindset which believes that nothing is impossible. This belief is the source of inspiration and the driving force behind the search for creative solutions to apparently insoluble problems.
Dear graduates, the education you received at DGS has prepared you well for a leadership role. From my own acquaintances, I can see in DGS graduates a strong sense of honesty and integrity underpinned by Christian faith, impeccable language skills, a passion for life, and the strength of character to take up challenges. I am sure you will carry on the strong tradition of DGS, and I wish you success and happiness in the future. As you leave the gate of DGS, I would ask you to reflect on these words from the great German poet and playwright, von Goethe:
"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it."
Finally, let me thank you most warmly for allowing me to share this happy and memorable day with you. To parents and teachers, I salute you for your boundless love and untiring efforts in nurturing our young people in whom rest the hopes and future of Hong Kong. May God bless you all.
End/Friday, December 15, 2000
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